War has changed, now there are no second chances
Format: PS3, Xbox 360 (version played), PC Dev: Codemasters Pub: Codemasters
Out: 09/10/09 Players: 1, 2-8 online
Realism is the “in” thing for first-person shooters these days. It is a genre dominated by photo-realistic graphics and visceral gameplay. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising takes this a step further, dropping the player in what could easily be a real war zone.
Set on the fictional island of Skira, Dragon Rising focuses on a conflict between US and Chinese forces. After a brief introductory video giving you the history of the escalating conflict surrounding the island, you are inserted straight into the action as a forward party disabling the Chinese defences before the US led invasion.
Operation Flashpoint requires thought and lots of it. Adopt a gung-ho attitude and you’ll find yourself dying over and over again. Instead it requires a precise use of tactics, commanding your squad with surgical accuracy. Flanking moves, suppressing fire and air strikes (which have never looked so good) are amongst your arsenal, but the real choice is how and when you use them. Do you want to play it safe by bringing everything to bear on the primary objectives, or take a risk on the secondary ones?
Dragon Rising excels at building tension. Night-time missions and a noticeable absence of a soundtrack give a real feeling of atmosphere. It only takes one wrong move and a horde of enemies will be upon you, likely overwhelming your four-man squad. This keeps moving between objectives from becoming dull, there is always something on your mind.
A day/night cycle helps keep the immersion, and gives you an idea of time. Got objectives that need completing before a morning invasion? As the first rays of light start to penetrate the darkness you know that you have to get moving. Somewhat strangely, though, it seems easier to see enemies in the dark, especially at long distance. Night-time scopes show enemies as white figures that are easier to spot than their green uniforms in the daytime.
Enemy AI units generally react pretty well, but your squad mates seem to act with little of their own initiative which can prove deadly in the middle of a fire-fight. There also seems to be no way of selecting specific squad members to give orders to. This can be a bit of a hindrance on tactics, making it unwise to engage from multiple directions.
Dragon Rising also features several online modes including online co-op and a couple of versus modes. Co-op solves the problem of the AI squad members (assuming you’re playing with intelligent players) and is generally pretty fun. Versus modes only support up to eight players on console, but AI members are added to each force. At the time of writing, there does seem to be low numbers of players online, but there are usually a few games available.
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a solid game that will appeal to fans of ‘serious’ first-person shooters. It is a game that will take you as close to a real theatre of war as you can likely get without joining the armed forces. It won’t appeal to all gamers, though. Dragon Rising is an unforgiving game – all it takes is one mistake, one bullet and you’re back to the last checkpoint.
Adam Dixon
Tags: codemasters, operation flashpoint, shooter
